Ebuka Obi-Uchendu shares beautiful photos of his second daughter to wish her a happy 1st birthday

Ebuka Obi-Uchendu's second daughter, Rubi turns 1 today and the proud father shared new photos to celebrate her.

The father-of-two wrote in the caption, "If 'bundle of joy' were a person, it would be Irubinachi."

He also shared a photo of his first daughter Jeweluchi celebrating with her kid sister.
See below....

CNN host, Chris Cuomo tests positive for Coronavirus

Chris Cuomo, a CNN host and brother of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has tested positive for Coronavirus.

In a tweet on Tuesday March 31, Chris revealed that he experienced COVID-19 symptoms, including "fever, chills and shortness of breath."

He wrote in a tweet;

"I have been exposed to people in recent days who have subsequently tested positive and I had fever, chills and shortness of breath.

"I just hope I didn't give it to the kids and Cristina. That would make me feel worse than this illness!"

Cuomo was last seen in CNN's office in New York City on Friday March 27. On Monday night, the anchor broadcast his show from his home, which featured his governor brother joking with him about the basement location of the broadcast.

The good-natured banter on Monday night between the brothers, whose late father Mario Cuomo had served as New York’s governor was widely noted on social media.

Chris Cuomo’s disclosure came after his governor brother briefed reporters on the increasing numbers of COVID-19 in New York state, where the CNN host is now one of nearly 76,000 Empire State residents with the disease.

Commenting on his brother testing positive for the virus, Cuomo said;

“Everyone is subject to this virus. It is the great equalizer. He is going to be fine. He’s young, in good shape, strong, not as strong as he thinks, but he will be fine.

“I spoke to him this morning and he’s going to be quarantined in his basement at home. He’s just worried about his daughter and his kids, he hopes he didn’t get them infected.

“I had a situation with Christopher” after learning that the anchorman had their mother, Matilda Cuomo, over to his house.
“I said that is a mistake, she’s older, and she’s healthy, but I said, ‘You can’t have mom at the house.

“You bring her to the house, you expose her to a lot of thing and you can expose mom to the virus.

“Love, sometimes, needs to be a little smarter than just reactive.  It’s my family, it’s your family, it’s all of our families.

This virus is that insidious, and we have to keep that in mind. Keep in mind Matilda’s Law, remember who is vulnerable here and protect them.”

Ekiti discharges Coronavirus patient after treatment

The Ekiti State Government has announced that the index Coronavirus patient in the state has been discharged after being certified free of the disease.

The patient who has been receiving treatment at the Ekiti State Infectious Disease Control Centre in Ado-Ekiti since March 18, was discharged after two tests conducted on him came back negative.

Ekiti State's commissioner for health and human services, Moji Yaya-Kolade confirmed the development and further disclosed that the index case left the facility by 2pm today March 31. She also revealed that the patient's vital organs were functioning well.

Moji said;

“We have tested him twice and the results were negative. He is doing fine and all tests carried out show that his organs are also functioning well. So, we are happy to discharge him.

“We shall still keep monitoring him from his base and we also appeal to members of the public to call the emergency numbers to report any suspected case, so we can take action in a timely manner. It was the timely intervention that saved our index case.

“We have tested him twice and the results were negative. He is doing fine and all tests carried out show that his organs are also functioning well. So, we are happy to discharge him."

Governor Fayemi also tweeted;

Thanks to our resilient health workers, Ekiti state’s #COVID19 patient has now been discharged. With this, Ekiti State has no coronavirus patient at its isolation center.

NERC reverses plan to increase electricity tariff

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has reversed plans to effect the transition to a cost-reflective tariff on April 1.

Recall that in its December 2019 Minor Review of Multi-Year Tariff Order 2015 and Minimum Remittance Order for the Year 2020, the NERC disclosed its plan of effecting a switch to cost-reflective tariff.

The move was expected to lead to an increase in electricity tariff.

The Minister of Power, Mamman Sale has however disclosed that the Federal Government has agreed to delay the implementation of a new tariff plan in the Nigerian Power sector by 3 months.

Sale disclosed that the decision was taken due to the Coronavirus pandemic and current economic reality of the Country.

He tweeted;

The Federal Government has agreed to delay the implementation of a new tariff plan in the Nigerian Power sector by 3 months.

This is in relation to the #COVID19 pandemic and current economic reality of the Country.

Coronavirus: Presidency releases photos of President Buhari washing his hands

As part of efforts to sensitize Nigerians on the need to wash their hands regularly during the Coronavirus pandemic, the presidency this evening posted some photos of President Buhari washing his hands.

See another photo below...

Spain records its highest number of deaths and new Coronavirus infections as 849 people die and cases rise 9,222 in one day

Spain has recorded its highest number of deaths and new Coronavirus infections as 849 people die and cases rise 9,222 in one day.

The country registered the new deaths between Monday and Tuesday, taking its total from 7,340 to 8,189. While the number of confirmed cases rose by 9,222, taking the total from 85,195 to 94,417.

The rise in cases marks a 10.8 percent increase in Spain.

The 9,222 new cases included 3,419 in the Madrid region, which accounts for nearly half the total deaths, and another 2,616 in Catalonia, the government said.
The government in Madrid has enforced a tighter stay-at-home rule to halt to all non-essential economic activity, which came into effect on Monday.

Spain is currently the third country in the world to overtake China's total infection count, after Italy and the United States.

Bauchi state government declares lockdown over COVID-19

As part of measures to contain the spread of the Coronavirus, the Bauchi State Government, has imposed a lockdown for 14 days beginning from Thursday April 2nd by 6pm

This was made known in a statement released by the Secretary to the Bauchi State Government, Sabi’u Baba today March 30th.

The state governor, Bala Mohammed, was the first governor in Nigeria to test positive for the virus.

Coronavirus Testing kits heading to the UK contaminated with the disease

Coronavirus testing kits that are due to arrive in the UK have been contaminated with the novel disease.

The news comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who has now been infected with the disease said 3.5 million antibody tests have been ordered to enable health officials to carry out 11,000 tests a day.

According to the Daily Telegraph, it has been discovered that key components ordered from Eurofins, a company based in Luxembourg, had been contaminated with COVID-19.

The report claims that Eurofins has warned laboratories in the UK that delivery of parts referred to as ‘probes and primers’ had been contaminated.

The fo said that the issue can be resolved by ‘proper cleaning’ but admitted the discovery would result in a delay.

A spokesperson for Eurofins told the Telegraph: ‘In rare occasions, delays in some orders may occur if based on Eurofins Genomics stringent quality and environmental control procedures, manufacturing of a product may not meet the quality or purity criteria set by Eurofins Genomics.

‘We are aware that contaminations of the nature you mentioned have been observed by several primers and probes manufacturers around the world after they produced SARS-COV2 positive controls.

‘Those initial problems can be easily resolved by proper cleaning and production segregation procedures.’

Soldiers can’t be deployed to enforce lockdown - Falana

Human Rights Activist, Femi Falana has stated that it is illegal for soldiers to be deployed to enforce the lockdown order issued by President Buhari.

Falana asked the federal government to reconsider deploying troops to enforce the order, as it is up to the police to protect "our nascent democracy" and not the military.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria who stated that such acts might make Nigeria's democracy wittingly or unwittingly militarized, urged the military to focus on the ongoing war against insurgents in the North-East.

The statement reads;

“Following the national broadcast of President Buhari on the COVID-19 pandemic, some lawyers have questioned the constitutional validity of the restriction of locomotion of people in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states.

No doubt, the President is empowered to adopt any measures deemed fit to combat the dangerous disease but such measures have to be spelt out in a Regulation made pursuant to section 305 of the Constitution or under the Quarantine Act.

Otherwise the presidential order on restriction of movement in the affected areas cannot be enforced by the police.

“However, while the nation’s armed forces should be commended for making their medical facilities available to members of the public in the fight against the highly dangerous virus the plan to dispatch armed soldiers to the streets to enforce the COVID-19 guidelines should be shelved because it is illegal.

“For the umpteenth time, I am compelled to draw the attention of the military authorities to the case of Yussuf v Obasanjo (2005) 18 NWLR (Pt ) where Salami JCA (as he then was) held that “It is up to the police to protect our nascent democracy and not the military, otherwise the democracy might be wittingly or unwittingly militarized.

This is not what the citizenry bargained for in wrestling power from the military in 1999. Conscious steps should be taken to civilianise the polity and thereby ensure the survival of and sustenance of democracy.”

Coronavirus: Buhari’s lockdown order is legal - Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has stated that President Buhari's lockdown order in Lagos, Ogun and the FCT is legal.

The Vice President who disclosed this while speaking at a Google Hangout, a programme organised by HACK COVID-19 Call Centre in Abuja on Monday March 30, stated that the legality of the president’s order is unnecessary because it is backed by an act of the national assembly.

In a statement issued by Osinbajo's media aide Laolu Akande, the Vice President stated that the Quarantine Act of 1926 which is published in all Nigerian laws allows the President to designate any local area, any part of the country, as a place that may be infected or under the threat of a communicable disease, and he can then make regulations of any kind.

He said;

“Regarding the legality of the shutdowns announced by the President yesterday, -Sunday-I think it is entirely legal. These steps are proactive, very relevant, important and backed by law.

“I am not so sure some of the people who have commented on the issue have come across the Quarantine Act. There is a Quarantine Act of 1926, it’s been published in all of the Laws of Nigeria, every edition of the Laws of Nigeria, it is there.

“What the Act does is that it allows the President to designate any local area, any part of the country, as a place that may be infected or under the threat of a communicable disease, and he can then make regulations of any kind.

“For instance, he can say, people should not go out; no public gatherings etc. So, it is a regulation that gives the President powers and these powers come from the National Assembly because, of course, it is an act of the National Assembly.

“So, the President has extensive powers under the Quarantine Act of 1926. Also, Governors have extensive powers under the same Quarantine Act.

“It is barely a one page legislation, so it is not particularly difficult to find the relevant provisions and it is not particularly difficult to read, very straightforward. So, the President has all the powers.

“Many of us are not familiar with the Influenza pandemic that killed several millions around the world in 1918.

At that time regulations were made here, very similar to what we have today, although that was under the colonial authorities.

“They also banned public gatherings, banned gatherings in places of worship then. So, there is even good historical precedence for some of what we are doing today.”

It is the government’s job to make lives better not mine - Burna Boy

Burna Boy has informed a Nigerian man that the responsibility of making life better for the common man lies in the hands of the government and not his.

He said this during an exchange with the Twitter user who asked him to go back to his community to do something meaningful for them during this Coronavirus pandemic.

See their exchange below....

Coronavirus: Infected patient escapes from quarantine facility in Ghana

An infected patient with coronavirus has reportedly escaped from a quarantine facility in Ghana.

According to Ghana's City News, the patient was one of the eight Guineans that recently tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Ghana.

Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed confirmed that the patient, a woman in her early 20s, scaled over a wall leaving behind her belongings at the facility in Tamale on Monday.

He described the incident as “a very disturbing situation because she is positive” with the novel coronavirus.

“Since yesterday, up till this morning, I have not slept, with my security people. I directed that they should use all their networks to be able to track the persona down and get her,” Mr. Saeed was quoted by the publication.

It was also reported that two police and two soldiers have been guarding the quarantine facility where the infected persons were being monitored.

Mr. Saeed has urged citizens to remain calm about the situation.

“Our people are safe… we are working very hard to ensure that the people don’t get too panicked. Nobody should be afraid because the security personnel are on top of the issues.”

Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports that the patient has been found by community members who apprehended her near Kumbungu, but authorities are yet to confirm the reports.

As of 31 March 2020, Ghana has152 cases of coronavirus.

Dead bodies loaded into refrigerated trucks outside New York hospitals after 98 people die from coronavirus in seven hours

Horrifying video footage has emerged of dead bodies being loaded onto a refrigerated truck outside a Brooklyn Hospital in New York City as 36,000 have been infected by the virus and over 790 people have died in the state.

The horrifying video shows the dead bodies being loaded onto a vehicle as makeshift morgues and hospitals are now all over New York City, the epicenter of the virus in the US.

According to New York City officials, this is the biggest deployment of makeshift morgues in the city since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The man who shared the footage said he shared it 'to show people' the 'ghastly reality' of the coronavirus in the US.

'It is the ghastly reality of what we deal with and where some of us have ended up already,' he told Buzzfeednews.

According to him, one of the women laying in the truck was a woman he had comforted as she was about to die.
'I never had the patience to sit with somebody I'd just met until they took their last breath. But I really liked this lady's cardigan and pajamas so I decided to stay and get to know her a little,' he said.

As of Sunday night, there were a total of 59,513 confirmed cases across the state.

'The numbers are staggering,' New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Sunday.
'This is unprecedented. We've never seen our EMS system get this many calls, ever.'

Former President of Congo, Jacques Joaquim Yhombi dies of coronavirus in France

Former Republic of Congo president, Jacques Joaquim Yhombi Opango has passed away after contracting coronavirus (COVID-19). He was 81
Yhombi-Opango died in a Paris hospital on Monday, his family confirmed to AFP.
His son told the news agency that Yhombi-Opango was ill before he contracted the virus.

Yhombi-Opango, who was an army officer who rose to power after the assassination of President Marien Ngouabi, led Congo-Brazzaville from 1977 until he was removed from power in 1979, with the country's current leader, Denis Sassou Nguesso taking over.

In 1987, he was jailed for three years after he was accused of participating in a plot to overthrow Sassou Nguesso.
After his release from prison, he founded the Rally for Democracy and Development (RDD) party but lost in a 1992 presidential election.

In 1994, Yhombi-Opango became the prime minister but fled into exile in France when the civil war broke out in Congo in 1997.

Lagos and Abuja streets deserted as lockdown begins

The 14 day total lockdown order issued by President Buhari on Sunday March 29, was effected in Lagos and Abuja from 11pm on Monday March 30.

While Ogun state government postponed the lockdown directive till Friday April 3, the police have blocked the inbound and outbound sections of the Lagos-Ibadan express way.

The total lockdown order was also adhered to in Abuja as some streets have already been deserted.

It is expected that health officials will identify, trace and isolate all individuals that have come into contact with confirmed cases within the 14 day total lockdown in the two states and the FCT.

Here are some photos taken in Lagos....

 Here are photos taken in Abuja....

Governor El-Rufai's wife tests negative for Coronavirus

The wife of Kaduna State governor, Hadiza Isma El-Rufai, has said that her test result for coronavirus has returned negative.
She disclosed this on her Twitter page stating;

“Dear Tweeps, My COVID-ONE-NINE test result is out. I’m NEGATIVE. Thanks for all your prayers and good wishes.

#StayAtHomeStaySafe''she tweeted

Recall that her husband announced he tested positive for the novel virus on Saturday March 28th.

Mikel Obi is the greatest Nigerian player – Daniel Amokachi

Former Super Eagles player and current football coach, Daniel Amokachi, has snubbed the likes of Jay Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu and Joseph Yobo to declare former Chelsea player John Mikel Obi as Nigeria's greatest ever player.

Mikel, 32 has had a distinguished playing career, winning 9 major silverware including AFCON, two Premier League titles, the Champions League, the Carling Cup, the FA Cup, and Europa League while Kanu also had a distinguished career winning trophies and playing in big clubs like Inter Milan, Ajax and Arsenal, but Amokachi who earned 44 caps for Nigeria feels Mikel is Nigeria's greatest ever player.

‘Mikel (Obi) is the greatest player,’ said Amokachi on Brila FM’s Show “The Bull’s Pit”.

‘He has won everything that a player can hope to; the Champions League, Europa, AFCON in 2013 and he also captained the national team.

‘As a footballer, your laurels count and that will surely count for Mikel because nobody has won that much in Nigerian football.’

Coronavirus: Anambra state governor, Willie Obiano goes on self isolation

The Anambra state government has confirmed that the Governor of the State, Willie Obiano has gone into self-quarantine after Bauchi state governor, Bala Mohammed tested positive for Coronavirus.

In a joint press briefing today, the Secretary to the State Sovernment, SSG, Prof Solo Chukwulobelu and the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr Primus Odili, said the Governor has been in self-quarantine since 11 days, and has not shown any sign of the disease.

“The governor was at the NEC meeting on Thursday, and you know how the sitting arrangement is, after the Anambra State governor, you get the Bauchi State governor, who has announced his status recently.

But if you are aware of the sitting arrangement during the meeting, you will find out that they usually observe social distancing. That you are in a hall with a man who has the disease does not mean that you can be infected.

“The governor is a very enlightened person, and because he knows he has been in a meeting with such Calibre of people, he decided to go into self-quarantine. Obiano is on self-quarantine. I have not seen him for the past one week, and we only talk on phone. We had two hours meeting yesterday (Sunday) using zoom.

There are no fears about his health at all,” the officials said.

NCDC educates Nigerians on those who deserve to undergo a COVID-19 test and where they can get the tested

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control has taken to its Twitter handle to educate Nigerians on who truly deserves to undergo a Coronavirus test and where they can get tested.

The agency also responded to questions on whether people can conduct coronavirus tests on their own.

See the tweets below....

"Coronavirus solution. It is real and it works" Ooni of Ife reveals herbs he says can be used to treat coronavirus

The Ooni of Ife, Enitan Ogunwusi, has claimed certain herbs, leaves, and vegetables found in Africa can treat the coronavirus and he shared a video explaining how the herbs can be used to cure the deadly virus.

On Monday, March 30, the Ooni shared a tweet where he recalled that a divine proclamation came out to the world last year, June 6th, 2019, during the World Ifa Festival – Otura Meji.

He added that during the World Ifa Festival, they "foretold about the impending rage of this invisible pandemic war, but few heard them."

He then went on to reveal that the treatment for the virus can be found in Africa and he listed the herbs that he claims cures the virus.

He added that "the only way to solve this ailment is through natural elements".

He also stated that he's willing to work with "researchers both in Nigeria and the world to make these natural herbs into clinical medicine and extract the vaccines from it."

He tweeted: "A divine proclamation came out to the world last year June 6th 2019, during the World Ifa Festival - Otura Meji. We foretold about the impending rage of this invisible pandemic war, but few heard us. Please note that Efod/ Urim and Thurim are in the holy Books.

"They are the same as our ancient readings that have not failed us till date. On this throne, I work very closely with all the nations of the world most especially the nation of Cuba.

"Centuries go by, the nation of Cuba hold dearly the tenets of our ancestors and rely on the blessings of the mystery of nature, and as a result they have the best medical care in the world. They are the ONLY country that have come out boldly to help the world.

"The Almighty is above religion and he is moving now, the world will now respect nature WHOLLY. Remember nature does not need you, we all need nature to survive. Truly, the world will NEVER remain the same again!

"To solve this ailment is through natural elements put together above all from nature. It has been tested!!! I have used it and also used it for some of the chronic Corona patients with testimonials.

"PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS FOR GRANTED (The world did with the warning Last Year June). I also challenge researchers both in Nigeria and the world to make these natural herbs into clinical medicine and extract the vaccines from it.

"I am ready to work with them and provide huge access to the herbs. It is real and it works. I have a lot gathered together for the use of mankind.
"I'm also currently working with Yem Kem International (Alternative Medicine Expert) pharmaceutical company for the packaging and distribution of these globally. It is about time to save the world now. Tomorrow may be too late.
Let's all keep safe."

Below are the tweets shared by the Ooni explaining how the herbs can be used.